A BRIEF SURVEY ON THE FLEAS OF INSECTIVORES AND RODENTS IN WESTERN YUNNAN

The present survey was carried out from November 1951 through March 1952 in Me-Tu, T'sai-Tsun of Ta-Li and Ta-Li city in western Yunnan. More than a thousand specimens of 3 species of insectivores and 11 species of rodents were captured and examined. The names of the animals together with the ectoparasites found on them are shown in table 1,Altogether 16 species of fleas were found on these host animals and on dogs and cats as well. They are listed according to their systematic position in the text.1. Among these fleas, Tunga sp. is found burrying in the skin at the rear end of its hosts, more commonly around the anus. This sandflea is different from T. caeeigena not only by the position of attachment of the females but also by its morphological characters. Besides 540 females, a single male specimen was also found. Its normal hosts were found to be Rattus norvegicus, R. flavipectus and R. rattus sladeni, but may infest Mus bactrianus, Apodemus agrarius chevrieri and Eothenomys sp.2. The human flea, Pulex irritans was represented in this survey by one female each off R. flavipectus and an unnamed rat in Me-Tu.3,4, Though the dog and cat fleas, Ctenocephalides canis and Ct. felis felis, were present on their respective hosts in this area, yet were not met with on the insectivores and rodents we examined. However, there were records of their occurrence on rodent hosts.5. Xenopsylla cheopis, the Indian rat flea was found on 7 species of hosts: Tupaia belangeri, Calloschtrus erythraeus, Apodemus agrarius chevrieri, Rattus eha, R. rattus sladeni. R. norvegicus and R. flavipectus.6. The finding of Stivalius sp. in Mang-Shih off Suncus sp. constitutes the first record of the genus in our country.7. Ctenophthaimus sp. was found to be the main flea of Eothenomys sp. but was encountered once off Parascaptor leucura and Apodemus agrarius chevruri respectively. It is different from Ct. yunnanus of Yunnan and Ct. parcus and Ct. dinormus from Szechwan.8. On Parascaptor leucura, a special Paeleopsylla was commonly encountered. It is not P. remota, as described by Jordan from Szechwan.9. In Ta-Li area, Apodemus agrarius chemitri was especially infested by Neopsylla specialis which did not occur on other animals except a single case on Parascaptor leucura.10. The rare Stenischia mirabiles were recovered on Apodemus agrarius chevrieri, and twice on R. norvegicus captured in the field. It seems to be a nest flea, being carried out on its host only occasionally.11. The most common flea in western Yunnan is Leptopsylla segnis. It stood first among the fleas found in both Me-Tu and Ta-Li area. It infested 10 species of animals: Crocidura sp., Tupaia helangeri, Callosciuns ery-thraeus, Apodemus agrarius chevrieri, Mus bactrianus, Rattus eha, R. losea, R. mttus sladeni, R. norvegicus and R. flavipectus.12. Another flea with low host specificity is Frontopsylla spadia cansa. It occurred on Rattus norvegicus, R. flavipectus, Apodemus agrarius chevrieri, and also on Croeidura sp. and Parascaptor leucura.13. Pamdoxopsyllus custodis occurred.only in small numbers. It infested the following rodents: R, norvegicus, R. flavipectus, R. rattus sladeni and Callosciurus erythracus.14. Fleas of the genus Acropsylla was revealed on Croeidura sp., Apodemus agrarius chevrieri, Mus bactrianus and R. rattus. sladeni. They were more commonly found in the nests than on the hosts. No previous data of its occurrence in China have ever been recorded.15. The squirrel flea, Macrostylophora, euteles, although mainly recovered on Callosciurus erythraeus, was also found infesting the tree shrew, Tupaia belangeri. It has been encountered only once on Rattus flavipectus.16. The common oriental rat flea, Monopsyllus anisus was occassionally found in Me-Tu, but commonly encountered in Ta-Li. In the latter area, it was found on Croeidura sp., Tupaia belangeri, Callosciurus erythraeus, Apodemus agrarius chevrieri, Rattus norvegicus and R. flavipectus.Members of the genera Tunga, Stivalius, Ctenophthalmus, Paeleopsylla and Aeropsylla are probably new species awaiting description. Among these, Stivalius and Acropsylla are new records for our country. But, on the other hand, Ctenophthalmus yunnanus and Neopsylla honora, which had been described from Yunnan, were not found by us during the present survey.